The pictures show the spider with its long black legs wrapped around the body of a dead bird suspended in its web.
The startling images were reportedly taken in Atheron, close to Queensland's tropical north.
Despite their unlikely subject matter, the pictures appear to be real.
Joel Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver.
"Normally they prey on large insects… it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he told ninemsn.
Mr Shakepeare said he had seen Golden Orb Weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.
Queensland Museum identified the bird as a native finch called the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.
Mr Shakespeare told ninemsn the bird must have flown into the spider web and become stuck.
"It wouldn't eat the whole bird," he said.
"It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel," he said.
Greg Czechura from Queensland Museum said cases of the Golden Orb Weaver eating small birds were "well known but rare".
"It builds a very strong web," he said.
But he said the spider would not have attacked until the bird weakened.
The Golden Orb Weaver spins a strong web high in protein because it depends on it to capture large insects for food.
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- groups:
- Green, WTF, Random, Earth and Science, 1 more
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- goldenways
- added this
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holy crap!
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AWSOME!
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- ron_pual_2008
- 1 year ago
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That is insane!
I can't imagine finding that in my bathtub.
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I thought it was saying giant spider eating bird at first, but then I saw the size of that spider and thought, holy macaroni and cheese!
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OH GOD WHY
Excuse me while I go hide in a corner and make plans to avoid Australia at all costs.
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I'm scared of spiders now more than ever.
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Its that giant spider from Johnny Qwest! Wheres Race Bannon when you need him!
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- ninepounds6
- 1 year ago
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I'm with Allsunday. Man and I really like the Aussie's. Cool folks.
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- sleepnomore
- 1 year ago
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Can't stop shuddering now......ick!
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At first I thought it was goliath bird eating spider (Yes, these are those crazy motherfuckers that prey on small birds XD and insects). I may be completely wrong because I'm going against an the head spider keeper, but that doesn't look like a Golden Orb Weaver. I compared this picture to a Golden Orb Weaver and it's missing some characteristics shared. Like I said, I could be completely wrong.
Either way, I'm getting a shotgun ready if I ever see those around me! XDD
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i thought the picture was fake at first but now that i read the article i know its real
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holy damn.
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Whoa. Better remember to bring my +2 Dire Longsword next time I visit Australia, these things are XP fodder.
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- Dmitri_Molotov
- 1 year ago
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I would exercise my food chain rights and kill that spider if it were living in my back yard. NOT COOL!
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- bamboodizzard
- 1 year ago
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Scarrrrrryyyyy
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sharks, crocs, most poisons snakes, big ass spiders!! Why do people live in Australia! Even the mammals are poisonous.
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YIKES!!! Spiders - really scared of them - when I was a kid in FLA, we would get "house spiders" - these things were HUGE - AND SKINNY AND HAIRY -and jeeez, they scared the crap out of me (and my mom -picture her with me clutching her leg,) swinging a broom at one of these really big spiders in the corner on the ceiling, kinda just waiting to jump(they did jump) - OMG!! I never kill bugs, spiders included(just had one in my kitchen window for about a month - named her Charlotte), but you better believe I'd run like hell from that one. Scratch Australia from my "places I'd like to visit" list as of now.
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To give this picture a sense of scale a Mannikin measures about 11cm. So the spider looks to be about the size of your hand.
Think also that these little guys weigh about 14g - that's one crazy strong web.
Us Australian's have all manner of creepy bugs and stuff that are likely to kill you or your dog. Fun time to be playing in the backyard with these things hanging around.
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- ProfessorFunk
- 1 year ago
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This is why the human race cannot let itself become extinct. Give those things a few million years of evolution and they'll be the ones running the show. Them or cockroaches. I'm getting sick thinking of it..
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- RaceBannon
- 1 year ago
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OK, so break it down for me -how big is the bird, and how big is the spider? The photo is a little hard to process, what's the scale? Aussies, enlighten me!
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They say that their webs are like bungee cords so it's quite possible these photographs are very real. It seems that this is a likely a scavenger attempt though which is unlikely for an orb weaver as far as I know.
There are also South American spiders that attack and eat birds but I am pretty sure they are hunters and don't build hanging webs.
This is really awesome nonetheless.
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- animalia_libero
- 1 year ago
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that's not very nice!
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- quacksalot
- 1 year ago
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Spiders eat birds, croc's eat humans... just another day here in Oz. Not to say that this type of thing happens all the time, but it happens which is all part of the reason why I love my country.
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I think there are more creatures in Oz that are poisonous than in any other country. Oddly, the smaller the creature, it seems, the more toxic the venom.
On my last visit to the Gold Coast, there was an apartment building fire reported on the local news. All the residents escaped the fire but there was one injury: a fireman had been bitten by a spider at the scene and rushed to the hospital!
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Yet another reason why I will not be visiting there in the near future...
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- lifestudentno83
- 1 year ago
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